NFL

5 things to note after Chiefs defeat Raiders

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)

Games inside Arrowhead Stadium at the end of last season seemed
as if they were being played inside a morgue. There was no energy.
There was certainly no sound.

Not with the Chiefs headed to a two-win season, one of the worst
in franchise history.

Things have changed dramatically in the less than a year,
though. The roar has been restored in Kansas City - a
record-setting one at that - and the team is off to a perfect start
through its first six games for just the second times in its
storied history.

The Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders 24-7 on Sunday, propelled
along by a crowd that at one point reached 137.5 decibels, setting
a new Guinness World Record for an outdoor sports stadium.

''The fans cheered their hearts out,'' said Chiefs running back
Jamaal Charles, who had two touchdown runs. ''It felt like it was
the playoffs. They were putting themselves on the line for
us.''

It's easier to roar for a team that's winning.

It was the first time in seven meetings at Arrowhead Stadium
that the Chiefs (6-0) had beaten the Raiders (2-4), and it allowed
them to press on with the second-best start in franchise
history.

The Chiefs won their first nine games during the 2003
season.

''We knew that this was an extremely good defense. They played
very good on special teams and they didn't make a lot of mistakes
on offense,'' Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. ''We knew that we
were going to have to create some field position with our defense,
create some field position with our special teams, and knew we were
going to have to try and take the ball away and protect the ball on
offense.

''You can't make the type of mistakes that we made,'' he said,
''and expect to win the game.''

Here are five things to take away from the Chiefs' win over the
Raiders:

PRYOR IS A WORK IN PROGRESS: Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor
played well in the first half, but he started to wilt under the
Chiefs' intense pressure in the second half. He was responsible for
several delay-of-game penalties, and threw three second-half
interceptions that the Chiefs turned into 17 points. ''Things
happen. Some of the greatest quarterbacks in the game throw
picks,'' he said. ''I have to understand why they happen, who's at
fault, whether it's me or whoever, and learn from it.''

CHIEFS ARE SACK MASTERS: The Chiefs piled up 10 sacks in the
game, one shy of the franchise record, and now have 31 on the
season - four more than they had all of last year. Tamba Hali had 3
1/2 sacks on the day, but he wasn't alone in getting in on the
action. Seven different Chiefs got their hands on Pryor during a
sack. ''Our coaches had a great game plan,'' Hali said, ''and put
us in the right positions to have some success.''

AILING RAIDERS: The Raiders couldn't have asked for their week
off to come at a better time. Not only is running back Darren
McFadden still dealing with a troublesome hamstring, the offensive
line has been shredded by injuries. They were down to their third
center when Andre Gurode got hurt on Sunday, and their backup right
tackle when Tony Pashos got hurt. ''Hopefully the injuries that
occurred on the offensive line today are not serious,'' Allen
said.

SMITH STILL STRUGGLING: All the hoopla of a perfect start in
Kansas City in part masks the trouble that quarterback Alex Smith
has been having in delivering the ball downfield. He was just 14 of
31 for 128 yards without a touchdown, and had a quarterback rating
of just 56.9. ''We struggled to get into a rhythm at all early,''
he said. ''They did a great job of mixing it up. We never got a
bead on them.''

OAKLAND STILL HAS HOPE: Pryor threw for 216 yards and a
touchdown, and the Oakland defense kept the Chiefs offense in check
until late in the third quarter. So even though the Raiders fell to
2-4 heading into their bye, they believe there is still reason to
be optimistic. ''I think we're close,'' Raiders cornerback Charles
Woodson said. ''You play a good football team and they capitalize
on mistakes that you make. That's the reason why they're 6-0. ...
They capitalized on it. We come up with the loss.''

Related Stories

Member Comments

Please note by clicking on "Post comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be Polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.